3268: Offside - Revision history

81.179.200.152: /* Trivia */ Minor updates.

2026-07-10T19:34:23Z

‎Trivia: Minor updates.

81.179.200.152: /* Trivia */ I'm sure there's much discussion to be had. But translating the complexities of a continually moving ball-kicking team game to a 1v1 turn-taking game is going to be a difficult task! (Edit Conflict! But think I covered what that said, so...)

2026-07-10T19:30:47Z

‎Trivia: I'm sure there's much discussion to be had. But translating the complexities of a continually moving ball-kicking team game to a 1v1 turn-taking game is going to be a difficult task! (Edit Conflict! But think I covered what that said, so...)

71.193.129.16: transcript

2026-07-10T19:14:12Z

transcript

198.73.70.136: Making the transcript more specific (and also more correct, e.g. it's the last move that's highlighted, not just the square of the rook) and adding some trivia

2026-07-10T18:51:43Z

Making the transcript more specific (and also more correct, e.g. it's the last move that's highlighted, not just the square of the rook) and adding some trivia

132.230.196.174 at 16:57, 10 July 2026

2026-07-10T16:57:58Z

Chronotix: /* Explanation */

2026-07-10T14:41:07Z

‎Explanation

207.181.214.68: /* Transcript */

2026-07-10T14:19:19Z

‎Transcript

207.181.214.68: /* Transcript */

2026-07-10T14:18:08Z

‎Transcript

82.132.236.148: /* Explanation */

2026-07-10T13:57:40Z

‎Explanation

82.13.184.33: /* Explanation */

2026-07-10T10:23:17Z

‎Explanation

@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 ==Trivia==
-The highlighted move of the white rook shows that it was already offside before it moved, because it started out on e7, which is still past the red line. Though this might not matter if it was not considered 'in active play' at the time (as per the rules of football). It would have threatened most of the squares that the king might have wanted to move to (and the respective queen threatened the other), but was not actively contributing to any check or check-mate. It would, at most have "gained an advantage", in that position, one of the less obvious criteria for the referee to possibly judge in football.
+The highlighted move of the white rook shows that it was already offside before it moved, because it started out on e7, which is still past the red line. Though this might not matter if it was not considered 'in active play' at the time (as per the rules of football). It would have threatened most of the squares that the king might have wanted to move to (the respective queen threatened the other free one, and a knight will have protected the rook from being taken by the king in its original position), but was not actively contributing to any check or check-mate. It would, at most have "gained an advantage", in that position, one of the less obvious criteria for the referee to possibly judge in football.
-Had it moved from e6, instead, it would not have been offside ''before'' it made its move, and as an analogue to the situation in football (where, if the player is not offside when the ball is kicked to where they ''will'' be, they are not offside when they do find the passed ball and take control of it) this might have been similarly allowable.
+Had it moved from e6, instead, it would not have been offside ''before'' it made its move, and as an analogue to the situation in football (where, if the player is not offside when the ball is initially passed to where they ''will'' be, they are not offside when they do meet the passed ball and take control of it) this ''might'' have been similarly allowable.
 {{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 ==Trivia==
-The highlighted move of the white rook shows that it was already offside before it moved, because it started out on e7, which is still past the red line.
+The highlighted move of the white rook shows that it was already offside before it moved, because it started out on e7, which is still past the red line. Though this might not matter if it was not considered 'in active play' at the time (as per the rules of football). It would have threatened most of the squares that the king might have wanted to move to (and the respective queen threatened the other), but was not actively contributing to any check or check-mate. It would, at most have "gained an advantage", in that position, one of the less obvious criteria for the referee to possibly judge in football.
-:On the other hand, it's only offside if it gets involved in play, which it clearly does with the check(mate).
 {{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 ==Transcript==
 {{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
-:[A single-panel comic showing a standard 8 by 8 chessboard, with the position 4Rk2/8/2p2p2/1p2PNbB/B2pn2n/1Q1P4/r4P2/3K4 b, with the most recent move of the white rook from e7 to e8 highlighted in yellow. The black king is trapped on f8 by the white rook on e8, white knight on f5, and white bishop on h5. A horizontal, dashed red line cuts across the chessboard above the sixth rank, where the least advanced black pawns are. On the right-hand side of this line, past the edge of the board, is a red-and-yellow checkered assistant referee's flag.]
+:[A single-panel comic showing a standard 8-by-8 chessboard, with the position 4Rk2/8/2p2p2/1p2PNbB/B2pn2n/1Q1P4/r4P2/3K4 b, with the most recent move of the white rook from e7 (green background) to e8 (yellow background). The black king on f8 is in check from the white rook on e8, and trapped by the white knight on f5, the white bishop on h5, and redundantly the white queen on b3. A horizontal, dashed red line cuts across the chessboard above the sixth rank, where the least advanced black pawns are. On the right-hand side of this line, past the edge of the board, is a checkered red-and-yellow soccer referee's flag.]
 :[Caption below panel:]
 :I thought I had checkmate, but I didn't realize my rook was offside.
@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 ==Trivia==
 The highlighted move of the white rook shows that it was already offside before it moved, because it started out on e7, which is still past the red line.
 {{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 ==Transcript==
 {{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
-:[A single-panel comic showing a standard 8 by 8 chessboard. The game is in progress with black and white pieces scattered across the board. Near the top of the board, a white rook is highlighted with a bright yellow background square. It sits immediately to the left of the black king. A horizontal, dashed red line cuts across the upper third of the chessboard. On the right-hand side of this line, past the edge of the board, is a red-and-yellow checkered assistant referee's flag.]
+:[A single-panel comic showing a standard 8 by 8 chessboard, with the position 4Rk2/8/2p2p2/1p2PNbB/B2pn2n/1Q1P4/r4P2/3K4 b, with the most recent move of the white rook from e7 to e8 highlighted in yellow. The black king is trapped on f8 by the white rook on e8, white knight on f5, and white bishop on h5. A horizontal, dashed red line cuts across the chessboard above the sixth rank, where the least advanced black pawns are. On the right-hand side of this line, past the edge of the board, is a red-and-yellow checkered assistant referee's flag.]
 :[Caption below panel:]
 :I thought I had checkmate, but I didn't realize my rook was offside.
 {{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 The basic premise is that when a ball is kicked forward to an attacker (excepting when that contact is certain other penalty kicks or throw-ins), they must have been 'on-side' ''at the time of that last touch'', regardless of whether they then run beyond the appropriate defender (or the defender runs the opposite way past the attacker) to actually take posession of the ball and then commence to score a goal. A player who ''was'' off-side may become on-side between the original start of the pass and also avoid the issue. Most of the tactics (and potential counter-tactics by the team not in possession) rely upon careful timing and balancing of such player positioning to create/remove such opportunities to be in a position to score a goal, or at least be closer to doing so. <!-- UMM... IS THIS GETTING TOO MUCH ADDITIKNAL EXPLANATION? The status of being off-side only extends up to the half-way line (from the target goal's end, for each respective team) and there is less advantage than one might imagine in sending all (but one) of a team beyond the half-way line, as the opponents are then more likely to legitimately get an attacker and the ball beyond almost the whole defending players and leave them with almost no opposition as soon as they do. --> The result of an off-side violation is the resetting of play to where the ball was at the time, disallowing any goal scored following that point and an (indirect) free kick given to the defenders. But it does not otherwise require the offending player(s) to be 'carded' (officially reprimanded, on or off the field).
-In this chess adaptation, Randall draws this "offside line" horizontally across the board, tracking the position of Black's least advanced pawns (the 'last defender'). The flag on the dashed line indicates that a linesman has flagged the match. The White Rook moved deep into Black's territory (indicated by the yellow highlighting on the square) to position itself to put the Black King in what would normally be {{w|checkmate}}. However, because the rook crossed the dashed offside line ahead of the defensive line of black pieces, the move was disallowed.
+In this chess adaptation, Randall draws this "offside line" horizontally across the board, tracking the position of Black's least advanced pawns (the 'last defender'). The flag on the dashed line indicates that a linesman has flagged the match. The White Rook moved deep into Black's territory (indicated by the yellow highlighting on the square) to position itself to put the Black King in what would normally be {{w|checkmate}}. However, because the rook crossed the dashed offside line ahead of the defensive line of black pieces, the move was disallowed. The offside line does not coincide with the border between the squares, but apparently depends on the exact position of the pawns. Thus in some situations an "offside checkmate" could be avoided by sloppily placed pieces.
 The title text furthers the soccer reference. In association football, a “cleats up” tackle occurs when a player lunges into a challenge with the bottom of their boots (typically featuring hard studs, for better traction on the grassy/muddy pitch) dangerously exposed and liable to injure the opposing player, intentionally or not. This play should result in the referee issuing an immediate {{w|Penalty card#Association football 2|red card}}. In chess, an arbiter is the referee of a tournament. The title text implies that the player’s knight made an aggressive leap to capture a piece, forcing the arbiter to eject the piece. Of course, in chess, the whole point of such a move is to take out the opponent's piece, unlike in soccer, where the objective should be to win the ball.

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 The comic features a standard chessboard with a game in progress. On it is a horizontal dashed red line equipped with a red-and-yellow checkered flag on the right. This represents the implementation of the {{w|Offside (association football)|offside rule}} of {{w|association football}} (soccer) in a chess match.
-In soccer, an attacking player cannot simply wait right next to the opponent's goal for a pass; they must not be beyond the opponent's defensive line when the ball is kicked to them. On replays, this is often illustrated by showing a line, level with the last defender, superimposed across the pitch. {{w|Assistant referee (association football)|assistant referees/'linesmen'}} run along the sidelines to monitor this boundary. When an attacking player receives the ball having been in an offside position, the official on the sidelines raises a flag (which is often checkered red-and-yellow) to signal a violation to the head referee.
+In soccer, an attacking player cannot simply wait right next to the opponent's goal for a pass; they must not be beyond the opponent's defensive line when the ball is kicked to them. On replays, this is often illustrated by showing a line, level with the last defender, superimposed across the pitch. {{w|Assistant referee (association football)|Assistant referees}} (or 'linesmen') run along the sidelines to monitor this boundary. When an attacking player receives the ball having been in an offside position, the official on the sidelines raises a flag (which is often checkered red-and-yellow) to signal a violation to the head referee.
 The complexity of the off-side rule is notorious (for ''not entirely'' deserved reasons), as it is not an actual offence for a player to ''be'' in an off-side position, and only becomes so when they are subsequently involved in active play (typically, this is upon being passed the ball, but may also be judged to include distracting/obscuring the goalkeeper or other activities more or less loosely at the discretion of the referee). Its original purpose was to deter certain undesirable playing styles, such as "goal hanging", that were considered unsporting, but it adds several complications to how the referee (aided or not by supporting linesmen, or even {{w|Video assistant referee|VAR}}) has to control the match, and players/supporters may have their own interpretations.

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:19, 10 July 2026
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	{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>		{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
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		+	[[Category:Chess]]
		+	[[Category:Soccer]]